BOULDER — It wasn’t Kailey Edwards’ night. Fortunately for Legacy, it belonged to the Smith sisters.

Courtney Smith, a freshman, had 17 points and 10 rebounds and her older sister, Caitlyn, a junior, had 13 and nine as Legacy defeated defending champion Highlands Ranch 64-61 in the semifinals of the Class 5A girls state basketball tournament

“They were big, and not just tonight,” Legacy coach Craig Van Patten said. “They’ve been huge all year.”

They were needed against Highlands Ranch because Edwards, Legacy’s star and leading scorer at 19.2 points per game, had an off night with nine points on 2-of-9 shooting.

At halftime, with the teams tied at 27, Legacy drew on its 17-point win over the Falcons in December.

“We’d already beat them once, so losing to them wasn’t really in our mind at all,” Courtney Smith said. “Everybody was doubting us and thinking (the December win) was a fluke, that it wasn’t real. But we knew it was real, because we could’ve done better.”

After halftime, Legacy did do better. The Smith sisters did the bulk of the scoring during an 18-11 spurt in the third quarter that gave the Lightning some breathing room against the fast-paced Falcons.

“I’ve played with my sister forever, so I always just know where she’s going to be,” Caitlyn said, “and she knows where I’m going to be.”

Added Courtney, “It’s like telepathy.”

Highlands Ranch cut the lead to 49-46 after three quarters, but Legacy expanded the lead, this time to eight points, with 6:36 remaining in the game.

Still, Highlands Ranch refused to go away. The Falcons clawed to within 60-58 with 2:24 remaining, and missed a number of shots that would have tied the game.

After Emily Glen hit two free throws to push the Legacy lead to 62-58, Michaela Neuhaus drew Highlands Ranch within one with 12.6 seconds to play.

Glen hit two more free throws, and Neuhaus’ potential game-tying 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer.

Neuhaus finished with a game-high 19 points but had only five in the second half and was 4-of-17 from the field. Glen led Legacy with 18.

Legacy finished the game 6-of-17 from 3-point land, including just 3-of-12 in the first half.

“We like to shoot the 3,” Van Patten said. “Sometimes, unfortunately, we like and die by the 3.”

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